Hara Hara Shankara, Jaya Jaya Shankara

Thursday, August 29, 2013

Dronacharya was the teacher for the pandavas and the
kauravas. He taught them the art of
warfare - archery, mace fight and others. Though all of them were competent and
extremely proficient in their skill, it was Arjuna who won Drona’s heart. Drona was very proud of Arjuna because of his
diligence and commitment to his skill. One day, Drona was so pleased with
Arjuna that he promised to make Arjuna the best archer in the world. He
proclaimed that he would teach Arjuna all the skills in a masterly way and that
no in the world could equal him.

Little did Drona realise that there was another
archer in the making. And that was Ekalavya. This boy wanted to learn archery
from Drona and approached him for his lessons. Drona turned him down citing his
caste as an excuse. This did not dither Ekalavya. He made an idol of Drona and
having him as his “manasika” guru, he learnt all the lessons of archery. Drona
was totally unaware of this.

Once, when the pandavas were in hunting in the
forest, they heard a dog which was repeatedly barking. This annoyed Arjuna and
he aimed his arrow in the direction of the sound. His aim was so perfect that
the arrow stuck the dog’s mouth and the sound subsided. But to everyone’s
surprise, when the pandavas along with Drona went to the spot, they found two
arrows. One was that of Arjuna and the other?

They looked around and found a
young lad approaching them, with a bow in his hand. He claimed that the other arrow
was his and it was his shot that silenced the dog. Arjuna was amazed at this
skill and asked Ekalavya about his guru. Ekalavya bowed to Drona present there
and pointed to the idol that he had made. Drona too was perplexed at this. This
angered Arjuna and was apprehensive about his own mastery now. But Drona intervened
and said, “Ekalavya, you claim that I am your guru. Then, where is my guru
dakshina”. Ekalavya was ready to give
anything as fees. Drona asked Ekalavya his right thumb as a guru dakshina which
was immediately satisfied. This humbled Drona and others. A thumb is a very
important organ for people who are learning archery. It is this finger that
gives support to the arrow and helps in aiming at the target. Ekalavya had to
part with something which was vital to prove his mastery.

Now, a general misconception was that by asking
Ekalavya his thumb, Drona had protected himself. He did this to keep up his promise to Arjuna. We would feel Drona did
not do justice to Ekalavya.

But friends, just ponder. If Drona would not have
asked for the thumb and Eklavya would not have obeyed, would we have ever known
Ekalavya? Ekalavya would have been any other ordinary warrior who fought for
Duryodhana in the Mahabharatha war. Would there be any remote chance of
upholding Ekalavya as probably greater than Arjuna. That is the greatness of a
Guru. At the cost of getting a bad name, Drona lifted his pupil high in the
eyes of the world. This is what a guru does. He lifts his student and places
him at a peak which gives the student name and fame. All we have to do is
surrender like Ekalavya. Have no pinch of doubt : if things will be taken care.
Drona did what best befits a guru. He gave Ekalavya a special place in the
Mahabharatha inspite of tarnishing his own name. So, not to blame Drona for
taking off the thumb from Ekalavya. In fact, after this incident Ekalavya
learnt to aim his arrows without the thumb. A double advantage and an added
fame.